Past & Present

Past & Present

Nahant on the Rocks

“Nahant on the Rocks” takes its visitors back in time for an interactive history lesson. The Nahant Historical Society’s first permanent exhibition first opened in 2003, filling the Nahant Community Center’s Lowell Room Gallery to the brim with authentic objects, structures, photos, and clothing from various times periods throughout the town’s history. The exhibit’s name […]

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Past & Present

Greetings from Swampscott Hotel and Resort Paradise

For the last several years, if someone wants to visit the North Shore, Swampscott is not where they would stay. Currently, there is not a single hotel, inn, or bed and breakfast in town.  But it wasn’t always like this. Swampscott was once a preeminent hotel and resort destination on the North Shore. That identity […]

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Past & Present

20 years later, 9/11 still vivid for Jalbert family

For some, it will be hard to believe that the 9/11 terrorist attacks are already two decades in the past. It’s a wound that is still fresh for those who lost a loved one in the horrific tragedy. That’s certainly the case for the Jalberts, who are still grieving the loss of their family patriarch.  […]

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Past & Present

Responders to Ground Zero reflect on 20 years

Those who responded to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 still remember the devastation, smells, chaos, and heartbreak that filled Manhattan.  Killing 2,977 people, including Swampscott resident Robert Jalbert, the attacks hit close to home for many.  Several Swampscott residents traveled to New York City to assist shortly after the […]

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Past & Present

Little island, big history

If you stand on the shore of Marblehead, Swampscott, Lynn or Nahant and look out to sea to the northeast, you’ll see a small nondescript island about a mile away. That three-acre piece of land — Egg Rock — has a rich history. In the mid-1800s, Swampscott was home to a growing fleet of about […]

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Past & Present

Who was the man behind the town’s seal?

What does $12 buy you? How about the original design used in the town seal seen on signs, badges, and official documents?  Already a Civil War hero and famous illustrator, Charles Wellington Reed was hired by the town in 1881 to create its seal. Town Meeting members authorized the Board of Selectmen to pay Reed […]

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Past & Present People & Places

Pisano had a hand in history

In August, a formal reveal of the Frederick Douglass sculpture by 99-year old Nahant artist Reno ‘Ray’ Pisano highlighted the official dedication of a new Lynn park named after the prominent African-American abolitionist.  The park and Pisano’s work is adjacent to the location where Douglass was thrown off a train on Sept. 29, 1841 for […]

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Past & Present People & Places

A woman for all time

The reason 93-year-old Mary McGinn has stayed in Swampscott for so many years can be summed up in one word: pride. Although McGinn was born in New York, she has spent the majority of her life in Massachusetts. She has lived in her current home in Swampscott for nearly 70 years.  “The town has been […]

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Past & Present People & Places

A salute to two stalwarts

Peter R. Beatrice Jr. and Peter Sack were remembered in October by town residents as  passionate people who were generous with their time. Beatrice sired a family that became a part of the town’s athletic royalty and Sack left his mark as an educator and ardent supporter of that town’s sports program. Beatrice died this […]

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Past & Present People & Places

He wonders where the time went

These days, Clem Schoenebeck is renowned for his poetry ― but that hasn’t always been the case.  The Swampscott resident attended Pennsylvania State University and was a part of the school’s track and cross-country teams. He met his future wife, Bonnie, at Penn State and they were married in his senior year.  After spending two […]

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